THE GOOD OIL

Don’t fear the fat – fatty acids have a range of benefits for your brain, heart and body; but most importantly, your face!

As a child of the 1980s, I grew up with parents who feared fat. Remember the pointy part of the food pyramid – ‘Eat Least’ – and how it was all oils and fats, and we were supposed to be going to town on bread five times a day? Well, just like when it comes to blue eyeshadow, perms and The Bangles, we now know more than we did back then. There’s a reason why almond butter, avocado and salmon have become must-have ingredients for everyone’s kitchen, and that’s because healthy fats have worked their way down the food pyramid into great everyday choices.

And look, there’s a lot I can tell you about the benefits of good fats: the omegas, the fatty acids. That they will support joint mobility and cardiovascular health. That fatty acids are beneficial for your mental health, supporting mental clarity and a balanced mood. That they would support healthy cholesterol levels and joint health, helping to keep you mobile as you age. These are all good, important reasons to look at increasing your intake of healthy fats, and avoid paying attention to the food pyramids of the past as much as you can.

But hand in hand with healthy choices comes a pretty great vanity reason as well, and as a woman with a face, I know the sentence to work with here: including fatty acids in your diet will hydrate your skin from the inside and up your glow factor. It’s true – you can moisturise to your heart’s content, but adding healthy fats to your everyday life are really going to make the biggest difference. So if the side effects to having a youthful face and hydrated skin happen to be clearer thinking, a better mood, a more mobile body and a healthier heart? Well, that’s a price we’re willing to pay. GO be you x